


a light that might give up the way

by Hymn



Series: Hymn's Fic: Katekyo Hitman Reborn Collection [3]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Gen, POV Hibari Kyouya, au after the battle for the rings, manga compliant, this is the TYL timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 13:56:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20908772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hymn/pseuds/Hymn
Summary: On the day of his middle school graduation Hibari Kyouya was hidden away atop the roof, relaxing in the slight breeze. It carried with it the sound of the students below, students who were only marginally under his jurisdiction now. He had done his duty that morning, ensuring all were present and properly dressed, but he himself had no intention of joining the milling masses, all eagerly awaiting the moment when they officially left Nami Middle School behind.Kusakabe had asked him just the other day if he was going to be okay -- Kyouya had only looked at him, annoyed. Of course he would be okay. There was nothing Kyouya could not surmount.But still, itwasa strange feeling, whatever it was that was churning him up inside.





	a light that might give up the way

**Author's Note:**

> i have so many 1827 wips it's honestly upsetting, so i'm trying to finish up and get rid of some of them. this is meant to be a part of a much bigger work, but fuck if i know if i'll get around to it, let alone when. title from mumford & son's reminder cause i can't be trusted to title my own fic.
> 
> if you're interested in keeping an eye on future updates, make sure you subscribe to the SERIES, [set fire to your soul](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1508000), and not this fic (:

  
  


## 

a light that might give up the way

  


\----

On the day of his middle school graduation Hibari Kyouya was hidden away atop the roof, relaxing in the slight breeze. It carried with it the sound of the students below, students who were only marginally under his jurisdiction now. He had done his duty that morning, ensuring all were present and properly dressed, but he himself had no intention of joining the milling masses, all eagerly awaiting the moment when they officially left Nami Middle School behind.

Kusakabe had asked him just the other day if he was going to be okay -- Kyouya had only looked at him, annoyed. Of course he would be okay. There was nothing Kyouya could not surmount. 

But still, it _was_ a strange feeling, whatever it was that was churning him up inside. 

A gentle _snick_ drew him from his contemplation of the clouds; the door beneath him opened, and Kyouya prepared himself to swing down and frighten whichever enterprising young idiot had decided to disobey school rules. This space was for Kyouya, currently. He would not allow any others to infringe on his territory, not here, not _now_, when it was only to be his territory for just a little while longer.

“What am I doing here, Reborn?” a voice said, high and whining with exasperation. “Why did we need to come all the way up here without any of the others? What are -- Ahh! Are you _planning something?_ No, no way! Reborn, don’t even think --”

“Shut it, No Good Tsuna.”

Stretched out across the cool cement, Kyouya didn't move. He listened to the familiar voices -- and how troublesome that they had dared become _familiar_ to him -- as they stepped out toward the fencing. He turned his head, cheek pillowed against his shoulder, and stared out at the section of the sky they would be looking at. 

Sawada Tsunayoshi cried out, “_Would you stop hitting me already?!”_

Kyouya didn’t understand it: the power he had seen from such a small, meek animal. Months ago he had lingered on the fringes of the battles for the Vongola Rings, swallowing his aggravation at being near such groupings and _allowing them to persist_, all for the chance to see what Sawada might become.

That, and for his own chance to test and overcome his limits. But the rules -- the regulations -- set down by outside forces; that was nothing that Kyouya would have truly allowed if not for his curiosity. What manner of creature was Sawada Tsunayoshi, exactly?

He still wasn’t certain.

“Just think, No Good Tsuna,” said the voice of the baby Reborn, “in a year’s time that will be you graduating. If, of course, you don’t fail and have to be held back a year. Considering your test scores, that seems highly likely. No Good Tsuna, the perpetual middle schooler.”

“H-Hey! I passed this year, didn’t I?!”

“Thanks to Gokudera.” Kyouya heard the gentle _tsk_ of Reborn’s admonishment. “If it wasn’t for your Storm Guardian where would you be?”

Silence was Sawada Tsunayoshi’s answer, apparently. Not surprising, considering. When Kyouya had first shown interest Kusakabe had gone digging, coming back with academic rankings and stories of disastrous athletic ability, the scornful murmurings of all the students, not just the gossips. Kyouya was well aware of Sawada Tsunayoshi’s failures.

This was getting boring. Closing his eyes briefly, Kyouya breathed out a soft sigh. He was comfortable, but any restful peace he might have had on this, his last day, was being stolen away. 

It was time to chase them off and reclaim it.

But then the small, meek animal said: “I wonder how he’s holding up. Hibari-san, I mean. It -- Nami Middle School won’t be the same without him. I wonder if he’ll be the same without it…”

“Hmm. It will certainly be more boring here with him gone.”

Up in his secret place, Kyouya -- tensed. All over. 

It was like Kusakabe asking him _Will you be happy, do you think? Being a high schooler?_ Only maybe this was worse because at least Kusakabe knew him; Kyouya had allowed his long-time aide that, at least. Of anyone, it was Kusakabe that had the right to toe the line of impropriety.

And here was Sawada Tsunayoshi, worrying over Kyouya as though they were _friends_.

Unease broke out all over Kyouya’s skin, itching and feral. He was going to bite him. He was going to fucking _eviscerate_ him, baby at his side or no, Sawada Tsunayoshi could take his feeble attempts at compassion and bleed for them. Hibari rolled, rose to his knees, pulling forth his tonfas. The feel of their grip in his hands was soothing, almost. 

“That’s true, I guess,” Sawada Tsunayoshi was saying, unaware of the danger. “And I mean -- it’s Hibari-san. He’ll be fine. He’s _always_ fine.”

“That’s true,” said Reborn.

At this vantage, Kyouya could see them now. Sawada Tsunayoshi’s head bobbed in a series of nods, his fingers tangled in the chain link fencing. “I’m sure he’ll have the discipline of Nami High School in his iron fist in no time. Yeesh, when I think about it some -- I kind of feel bad for the high schoolers there. Some of them are from other schools, you know? They won’t know what’s about to hit them.”

Kyouya knelt there, just breathing. He watched, and he listened; his heart pounded, his blood sang. A little of the unease he had been feeling -- the strange _something_ that had churned at his gut since this morning -- slipped away. 

It wasn’t that he was losing his territory. Only that it was growing, expanding, _changing_. And only the weak and unworthy were defeated by change. Kyouya could remain himself through it, standing strong, and make any new circumstance his for the taking.

He _would_ be fine.

Reborn, seated on Sawada Tsunayoshi’s shoulder, said, “Perhaps you should go visit him, Tsuna! Make certain he’s not getting too bored or forgetting your No Good face over there.”

“W-what!? Hell no! I would -- he’d probably _bite me to death_, Reborn! Gah, that’s such a stupid idea, I would never -- and besides! I doubt Hibari-san would want _me_ to _visit_. I don’t think he’d want anyone to visit, but definitely not _me_. What would we even _talk about_, he -- oof!”

Reborn bounded up from Sawada Tsunayoshi’s shoulder, landed on his head hard enough to stagger him, and then balanced casually atop the fence. Kyouya caught the gleaming glance the baby sent his way. Interestingly, Kyouya found that he himself was smiling, anticipation beginning to supersede the irritation he still felt. 

Reborn suggested: “You could battle. I wouldn’t want you getting rusty, Tsuna. It’s been a while since your last battle and there’s no telling when the next might be. You need to keep growing.”

“No,” said the little animal, waving his hands about in agitation. “_No_, not this again! I’m done fighting! I won’t! I’m just a normal middle schooler --”

“Pfft,” dismissed Reborn.

“-- _just a normal middle schooler_. I don’t want to get stronger. I don’t want to fight! And Hibari-san _definitely_ doesn’t want to fight me, okay? It’s not gonna happen, Reborn, so give it up!”

_Interesting_.

The baby seemed to be out-maneuvering Sawada Tsunayoshi without the boy even having the vaguest hint that it was happening. But Reborn knew Kyouya was there, and, apparently, Reborn knew Kyouya well enough to press the right buttons. To set up this little show for Kyouya to utilize. Which was… distasteful, to say the least. Also, hardly relevant.

Because Kyouya wanted a fight, and he wanted it _now_.

He felt it in his bones, that sense of wild freedom and excitement, the knowledge that he was about to risk his body and pride and the determination to come through it victorious in the end; it was thrilling. It was one of Kyouya’s favorite feelings.

It was _much_ better than he had felt all day, in fact.

He leapt, landing on level ground with Sawada Tsunayoshi, deliberately loud. The boy startled, yelping, and then turned to flatten himself against the fence like he could somehow disappear through it. It was a ridiculous sight.

Kyouya’s smile grew wider. “You know me so well, Sawada Tsunayoshi?”

“Hi-Hi-Hibari-san?! You were -- YOU WERE HERE THIS WHOLE TIME?!”

“Of course.” Standing, Kyouya tilted his head to give Reborn a considering look. The baby just dipped his chin and smiled, the shadow of his hat’s brim hiding his eyes. Kyouya looked back at Sawada Tsunayoshi, still considering. “I’m bored. You can entertain me, I guess.”

“Shouldn’t… Uh, shouldn’t you be with the others in your class, Hibari-san? You don’t -- Uhm! You don’t _really_ want to fight me. I mean! I’m just, uh, just No Good Tsuna, I don’t -- !”

“Do you know? I actually really, _really_ want to bite you to death,” Kyouya decided, because it was _true_. He had found in idle moments his mind flickering back to that final battle, the strength and power of those fists, the determination in those eyes -- Kyouya hadn’t yet had a chance to test his mettle against him since. 

Sawada Tsunayoshi squawked, looking about desperately for an escape.

“Tsuna,” Reborn said, in the tone he used, sometimes, specifically for his charge -- short, expectant, complicated with things unsaid. “Won’t you do this kindness for your Cloud Guardian? He’s graduating today and he’s bored. Consider this battle a… sending off present, in a way. You owe him a debt of gratitude, after all.”

“What -- ! _Like hell I do_,” Sawada Tsunayoshi hissed, face paling, craning his head to glare upward at Reborn. Kyouya noticed that the boy was shaking slightly, fear or nerves or adrenaline, maybe, a frightened animal, cornered. 

Kyouya settled into a ready position; he knew well the strength of cornered animals, their back against the wall and nowhere left to go save _forward_.

Reborn tsked. “No Good Tsuna, do you think you can just use and discard your Guardians like that? Of course you owe him. You owe all of them. Now, I’m tired of your whining. Go and show me your Dying Will, worthless student.”

“Reborn --” gasped Sawada Tsunayoshi, jerking. “Don’t -- !”

“Too late,” Reborn said, sounding delighted. A smoking gun was in the baby’s hand; Kyouya hadn’t even followed the movement, though he had registered it happening. A bullet hole was in Sawada Tsunayoshi’s forehead, the boy slumping slowly to the ground, fingers now lax against the chainlink.

Kyouya frowned. “Murdering students on school grounds isn’t allowed.”

“It’s just for a moment,” Reborn promised. “And if it isn’t, then good riddance.”

A flare of orange light -- power blustering forth in waves, bright, and strong enough to outmatch the spring breeze, sweeping back Kyouya’s hair and sending his jacket fluttering -- took up all of Kyouya’s attention. Flames licked back from Sawada Tsunayoshi’s unmarred forehead, right at the point of the bullet’s entry. The X-Gloves had, somehow, made an appearance, though Kyouya hadn’t witnessed the strange mittens they seemed to emerge from.

Clear, orange-glazed eyes blinked slowly open. “Don’t say that, Reborn. You’d secretly miss me.”

“Heh. So much arrogance. Losing to Hibari here will do you some good, No Good Tsuna.”

Like this, Sawada Tsunayoshi was still little more than a small animal, but he was no longer meek, and he did not pretend to be powerless. His chin lifted to a cocky height and a clenched fist came up at his side like a challenge, that steady gaze never once leaving Kyouya. He said, “I won’t lose. With my Dying Will, I will entertain Hibari Kyouya to his heart’s content.”

_Entertain_, he said.

Kyouya felt a rush of joy bubble up from deep in his gut at the first, sharp burst of speed Sawada Tsunayoshi put on; he dropped to a knee to avoid the powerful punch and swung his arm backward, his tonfa successfully clipping his opponent in the ankle. “Oh? I’m so grateful for the indulgence,” Kyouya said, “I just might have to bite you to death as thanks.”

“You were already planning on trying that,” Sawada pointed out, voice lazy and with just a hint of emphasis on the word _trying_. He touched back down onto the ground, pivoted, and barreled back, leading with his shoulder as he charged straight for Kyouya on a burst of soft flames.

Kyouya slammed a tonfa into the meat of his shoulder, grinning even as he was pushed backward.

  
  
  


\----

  


**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to feed the writer! Kudos and comments are much appreciated! <3


End file.
